Southfield (WWJ)  -- Winter's approaching, and you know what that means -- snow and ice.

Now if you're going to be happy living in Michigan, you have to learn to have fun in the snow. But no matter how much you may love skiing, snowshoeing or snowmobiling, there's also the downside -- slippery roads and sidewalks.

Well, the snow experts at Michigan Technological University's Keweenaw Research Center have developed a new product that could make things less treacherous.

The product is called SafeLane. It's an aggregate surface with an epoxy overlay. When liquid anti-icing chemicals are applied to the overlay before ice or snowstorms hit, the material acts like a rigid sponge, storing the chemicals inside and automatically releasing them as wintry conditions develop. The result is safer surfaces with better traction and less maintenance, because the overlay helps prevent ice or frost from forming.

The product was developed by a team led by Russ Alger, director of Michigan Tech's Institute of Snow Research and owner and vice president of Superior Overlays Inc.

Alger is an Upper Peninsula native with a master's degree in civil engineering from Michigan Tech. His areas of research interest: soils and pavements in cold weather.

"I've been messing with de-icers and pavements for a long time, looking at different types of de-icers and the best ways to use them," Alger said. "We study them in the field and have a lab up here to see how a new chemical works against existing ones. One of the things that we found early on was that some pavements appear to be able to hold chemicals longer than others. We call that residual effect, so the pavement is actually working to help the de-icer last longer ... I started looking at why some pavements work better than others. At the same time we had an issue come up with snowmobiles, where snowmobile crossings are getting torn up by carbide studs, so we started to study epoxy overlays at the same time. The two just sort of came together."

The Minneapolis chemical giant Cargill has bought the rights to market Alger's discovery. "They're also working with us to tweak the product," Alger said. "We're kind of joined at the hip."

So far, SafeLane has been installed in 26 locations around the country, and more installations are planned for next summer. Warm weather -- pavement temperatures at least 55 degrees for a day -- is required for installation. In Michigan, installations include a bridge over the Looking Glass River on northbound US-127 just north of Lansing, and the sidewalk in front of Jim's Pizza in downtown Hancock.

Cargill and KRC researchers are marketing two kinds of SafeLane. One is called HDX. It's intended for highways, and features bigger aggregate and thicker epoxy to stand up to county snowplows. The other product, CA-48, has smaller aggregate and thinner epoxy. It's intended for sidewalks and driveways.

For now, contractors install the overlay, but Alger envisions a day when when five-gallon pails of epoxy and aggregate will be on sale at hardware stores everywhere.

“Then, you’ll be able to put it on yourself,” he says.

To reach Alger, e-mail rgalger@mtu.edu or call (906) 487-2498.

For more information on SafeLane, including reports on its effectiveness, visit www.cargillsafelane.com.